


Jeremy Atticus Finch

by ttme123



Category: To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Genre: Monologue, Racism, afterwards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-03
Updated: 2015-03-03
Packaged: 2018-03-16 03:15:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3472376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ttme123/pseuds/ttme123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I'm Jeremy Atticus Finch, proud son of Atticus Finch and brother to Jean Louis Finch, 'cept we usually just call her Scout, and I'm just Jem. An' speakin' of Atticus, I really wanta tell you about one of his cases a few summers ago...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jeremy Atticus Finch

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, it was an English project. However (and not sound sound cocky but...) it's actually... quality material. Not my best, of course, but not half-assed, either.

            _I’m Jeremy Atticus Finch, proud son of Atticus Finch and brother to Jean Louis Finch, ‘cept we usually just call her Scout, and I’m just Jem. An’ speakin’ of Atticus, I really wanta tell you about one of his cases a few summers ago. ‘Cause, you see, Atticus is a lawyer, and a pretty stinkin’ good one at that. Anyways, back to what I was sayin’. Reckon it was about two summers ago when Atticus was appointed to defend a black man by the name a Tom Robinson._

Tom had been accused by that piece of trash Mr. Bob Ewell of rapin’ his girl, Mayella. Now, this case should have been easily won by Atticus ‘cause of a lot of reasons. The Ewells went to trial half-cocked and were lacking in proof and Tom’s testimony said the exact opposite of the both a theirs. Also, even if Tom had “taken ‘dvantage of her”, as they called it, it still wouldn’ta been rape, ‘cause Mayella was 19 at the time and definitely wasn’t tryin’ to fight ‘em offa her. And since she wasn’t fightin’ him, she let ‘em do whatever he did, but really, I don’t think he did anything besides try ta help her, like he said.

It was after Atticus had given his speech to the jury and they were back somewhere tryin’ to decide if Tom was innocent or guilty, and I was just tellin’ Reverend Sykes, who accompanied Scout, Dill an’ I to the colored balcony, all this when he told me somethin’ ‘bout not lettin’ Scout hear this, bein’ a lady ‘n all. I paused for a second before I told him that Scout probably didn’t even know what we were talkin’ about anyways. I did notice her and Dill were lookin’ at me the whole time I was talkin’ and she looked pretty indignant when she told me that ‘of course she understood everything I said’. I wasn’t really sure if she was sayin’ that just to feel grown up or if she really did know everything I was sayin’, but I decided to stop talking about it just in case she really did get it.

That was probably somewhere around, well I reckon it was about eight or nine at night ‘cause it wasn’t till a few hours later, after 11, that Scout and Dill woke up and the jury returned, not even darin’ to look Tom in the eye, the nasty cowards. Anyway, so one of the jurymen in the front handed the verdict written on a slip of paper to Mr. Tate, who it turn handed it to the judge, Judge Taylor. I remember it like it was yesterday; it all seemed to go in slow motion for me, and as each ‘guilty’ was read, I shook an’ I twitched, the word hittin’ my gut harder than anything I’d ever felt before. My stomach sunk down real low, and I felt sick. I just about lost my head. And then, when Judge Taylor started talkin’ again, I kinda phased out and everything was a blur. I remember standin’ for Atticus and leavin’ with Scout and Dill, and Reverend Sykes mighta walked us out, I don’t remember. All I know was that all the way to the corner with the streetlight that we met Atticus on, I kept tellin’ Scout, and Dill, and anyone who would listen how it wasn’t fair, and I remember when we were walking down the sidewalk to Atticus I, well, I mighta been cryin’… but let me tell ya somethin’: none of Atticus’s cases have ever affected me the way Tom Robinson’s did. So we walked over to Atticus and I said to him, “‘It ain’t right, Atticus,’ [and he said to me, as more tears pricked my eyes, he said] ‘No son, it’s not right,’”.

And, I mean, thinkin’ back on it, I still “don’t see how any jury could convict on what we heard”. Tom’s testimony was as solid as stone, and, although he was white, it’s not like Mr. Ewell was respected or anything. He was, and his children continue to be, the trash of Maycomb. Those kids don’t even go to school no more without their pa ‘round. As a matter a fact, don’t think anybodys paid any ‘ttention to them at all since, uh, since their pa died.

But probably the most important thing about Atticus’s defense of Tom Robinson was the lessons that we all learned. I had my eyes opened, and I reckon it helped open Scout and Dill’s eyes a little, too. And when I took it up with Scout, ‘bout why things ended up the way they did, I said it as I realized it, “’if there’s just one kind of folks, why can’t they get along with each other? If they’re all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other?’”. And the thing I learned most of all: even once they’ve learned their lesson, people never really change their ways. If only there were more people like Atticus ‘round here…

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment and leave kudos if you enjoyed!


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